Any spoilers, for the current chapters must be behind spoilers or detail curtains. When we get further in you don’t need to hide details that were revealed in previous chapters.
Always mention where you are in the book when discussing, ideally by chapter so people reading different versions have a clear point of reference.
Feel free to read ahead if it’s exciting! But please refrain from spoiling ahead of the appropriate week
If you have a question about grammar, vocab, cultural things, etc - ask! That can be part of the discussion too and I’m sure some folks would be happy to help.
Even if you don’t read the chapter(s) in time, you are still encouraged to post in the thread for that reading once you have finished it. I advise not reading ahead in the threads as you may see spoilers.
A note: for those reading the Bunko version, this is the last wee I have page numbers; if anyone is planning on reading through volume 2 of book 1 for the Junior version, I’d really appreciate it if you could help me gather pages #s!
This week was quite dramatic! Myne’s tantrum when the boys accidentally stepped on her sandcastle 粘土板 scared me a bit since the audiobook narrator started screaming all of a sudden. I enjoyed everyone’s reactions, though. In the next chapter, Tuuli mentioned something about Myne’s eyes changing color when she was mad. Is this just a metaphor for how mad she was, or did something actually happen to the color? I really like Myne’s friendship with ルッツ, it’s very cute. Also, the 粘土板 exploding at the end was a dramatic way to fail. I wonder what Myne will try next?
Only partway through the first chapter for this week, but feeling really annoyed with Myne for the first time… Straightup lying to Ruttsu? Then when he gets mad saying she just … accidentally lied to him? When he’s not being unreasonable at all. Also Myne’s tantrum is pretty intense to listen to in the audio book, what with all the sobbing and screaming. Things were going pretty well in last week’s reading, so I guess something had to go sideways sooner or later…
That’s not any different from what she has been doing before, though. Like how she said she’d be calm alone at home but did a mess in the end… Lying has been par for the course in her quest to get books.
Mmmyesss… but lying to your parents because you need to find out more about your new world is different from lying to your friend because you were impatient to carry out a scheme!
I have been mostly lurking and answering poles up until now, so pardon me bursting in here like Kool-Aid Man. But wow, the end of the 「粘土板ダメ」chapter hit me hard and made me want to join the discussion.
Those final two pages of the chapter (213-214 in my book) are so beautifully written. Myne bluntly admitting how disconnected she has felt from her new life and even her own body is not something I have seen explored deeply in an isekai story before. It also recontextualized a lot of the first two-thirds of the book for me, in particular interactions with her mother as well as moments she came across as self-centered/selfish. I thought this was a really interesting way to approach those complex feelings, rather than just bluntly lay them out from the beginning.
I was really moved by Myne’s description of how being able to to permanently bind the stories filled with her mother’s love to something precious to her (books) would allow for her to accept her new life and their relationship. I really thought she had finally succeeded in her goal too, only for the symbol of her catharsis to not only explode, but result in her being scolded by the very person who she is trying to build an emotional connection with.
I additionally felt like there was a chilling tonal shift. Myne up until this point as been a very emotionally driven character, particularly when it comes to being able to make a book. This is reflected both in her internal and external monolgoue, and usually we the audience are there are experiecing these emotions with her in real time. When she was weaving the fibre to make pseduo-papyrus she became frustrated to the extent of being scolded by her mother. When Fay and his “henchmen” stepped on her clay tablets, she broke down sobbing and became so angry it scared them. The tablets exploding in the hearth though, we do not experience this with Myne; we are told about it as a respective fact. “It exploded. No, really. You probably do not understand what I am saying, but it is not a lie,” There is an odd calm to; no big emotional reaction like usual. I got chills reading it.
Reading 本好き up until this point has been a bit of slog for me personally. The slice of life story was not really grabbing my attention. However, I am now really eager to see where the rest of this first volume goes, and for the first time feel like I might want to continue the series as a whole.
Just finished this week’s reading, and I’m a little confused about why they left the 粘土板 in the forest the first time. I would have thought that they would bring the clay back home so Myne could form tablets and write at her leisure, then be ready to bake without having to transport the completed tablets. Did I miss something?
My thought was that there might not be enough space at home to do the writing, but it’s not made clear by the book.
She could have just taken enough clay for one tablet and make one at a time… but that doesn’t really match her personality.
I was also quite impressed by the tone in that last part of the chapter, and I was surprised that she actually wanted to write down the stories told by her mother (originally, I thought she’d want to record something from her time in Japan).
I must say that a few chapters have also been a slog to me, perhaps its the pacing, but I feel like we keep getting the same formula over and over again (Myne trying to do something book related and failing, or discovering some small think that enrichens the lives of people around her, but without a huge change in the setting I guess). I’m hoping that the next chapters, maybe with the baptism, will bring in some excitement to the story.
(Also, I just noticed your profile pic is Hythlodaeus, was not expecting to meet a fellow person of great taste around here… )
Whew, finally caught up to… end of week 9. Still quite a bit to go, you guys read so fast
I was expecting this, too! The first time she described writing a story her mother had told her, I assumed it was her mother in Japan at first.
I can definitely understand that. Another aspect of it for me is Myne goes into near tutorial level details about what what she is making (why she is making it this way, why it is important to make it this way, otherways she thought of making it and why she ultimately decided against it). It feels like this level of detail never gets placed into other areas of the story I would actually like more more thorough descriptions. For example, more descriptions of the setting, where certain characters are positioned in scenes, etc. It sometimes makes the world feel flat and more like a isekai home economics book (This is not a bad thing per se, it is just isn’t my cup of tea).
Also
…words do not begin to express how happy it makes me somebody here recognizes who my profile is. He is my absolute favorite, and I am thrilled to meet a fellow person great taste.
In case anyone else is reading along with the audiobook and wants to skip this chapter bc of stuff that might be triggering, the timestamp for the next chapter starts at 26:23
The first chapter really shook me up personally, and I’m really hoping there isn’t more aggressive yelling/scolding in future chapters. If there is, and anyone knows what chapters plz lmk.
Additional thoughts on that
One of the things that I’ve really liked about this book so far is how emotionally healthy and caring Myne’s parents (especially her father) have been. Even when they’re angry, it’s done in a healthy and constructive way. That’s really been a pleasant surprise.
The whole bit with Lutz yelling at her, grabbing her, pulling her ear, and then getting aggressively angrier, and saying that her dad was too soft on her, and especially reading it from Myne’s perspective, was really triggering for me, to the point that I had to just go read the English afterwards bc I couldn’t focus properly.
Anyway that’s pretty much just my own PTSD stuff, and I think I might have been ok if it was reading without the audio.
Otoh this was also the first time I got genuinely upset with Myne (though I can certainly sympathize). In general I can really relate to her (and have been a bit surprised with how frustrated a lot of ppl have been with her), but I thought she was really unfair to the other kids when they’d made a totally innocent mistake, and then even helped her out afterwards
Anyway really well written chapter all around (just hard for me personally), and based on everyone else’s comments, I’m looking forward to reading the 2nd chapter.
Edit: finished 2nd chapter. It was really sweet, and I felt so bad for Myne at the end. Hopefully things will look up soon
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He is my absolute favorite, and I am thrilled to meet a fellow person great taste.